The Most Famous Carpenter of All Time, Excepting Jesus

Norm Abram's everyman toolbox

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Jan 29, 2007

The funny thing about Norm Abram is that by the time he finishes work on an old house, it's no longer an old house. This is because when Norm shows up to poke around your twenty-seven-room Victorian, he does, in fact, poke--with pocketknives and crowbars and whatever other sharp implement might be at hand. And as he pokes, he repeats a certain word almost triumphantly, the way most people say, Aha! "Look at this," Norm will say gravely. "Rot!" And it is then that the talents of master carpenter Norm (the most famous carpenter of all time, excepting Jesus) are brought to bear. To wit: He tears the whole damn thing down and rebuilds it from the ground up. And when you've rebuilt as many twenty-seven-room Victorians as Norm has, when you've guided repairs on This Old House, genially hosted The New Yankee Workshop, and written seven books on the right ways to put wood together, you pick up a few things. Some of which Norm would like to pass on to you here. Because there's only so much rot one man can deal with. --Jim Adams

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1 Tool bucket with liner

First, you're going to need something to carry your tools around in. It doesn't have to be a fancy toolbox; simply take an old five-gallon bucket with a tool liner to go in it. The trouble with any toolbox is that things get piled on top of each other, and these organizing buckets seem to make more sense. I have a carpenter's box that, all loaded up, probably weighs a hundred pounds, but it includes a lot of tools you wouldn't need. I think if you're going to choose that kind of toolbox, the plastic types are better, because they're lighter and can take a bang without denting.

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2 Cordless drill

One tool you are going to use a lot is a cordless drill. I would go with a three-eighths-inch keyless chuck on a twelve-volt, variable-speed reversing drill. That fills just about everybody's needs. Buy a backup battery, too, so that you don't have to wait to recharge the drill when you run it down. I always carry around screwdriver bits for the drill in my nail apron. Carry a bit that easily goes into the chuck and has a number-two Phillips head and a straight-slot screw bit. You should also carry a small case of drill bits--from, say, a thirty-second of an inch up to a quarter inch--because you always need drill bits to predrill holes for one thing or another.

3 Four screwdrivers

A lot of the manufacturers put together these multitip driver packets, but if you look at your supply after a year, the only one that is worn out is the number-two Phillips. If you are trying to do any kind of electrical work, you would probably use large and small straight-slot screwdrivers. But most screws you will be using have a number-two Phillips head, and if you are occasionally going to be working on smaller projects or maybe an appliance, you would need a number-one Phillips, too.

4 Combination and speed squares

If you're going to mark and cut wood, either at miters or at 90 degrees, you'll need a square. I would opt for a simple twelve-inch combination square, which can mark at either 90 or 45 degrees. There are also larger, more heavy-duty ones--what we call speed squares--that come in different sizes. For the cost of those two tools, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have both. Get the smaller speed square, which is about six or seven inches along each leg. A speed square's got a range from zero to 90, and sometimes that's helpful if you're building a deck or getting into angles other than 45 degrees. This is also a great guide if you are not really proficient with a circular saw. To get nice, square cuts, hold the square up against the edge of a board with your hand and just run the base of the saw against its side.

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5 Hammer

Obviously, you need a hammer. Go with a sixteen-ounce claw hammer with a smooth head. The handle can be anything you want: wood, fiberglass, or steel shank. But don't just grab any one. I think you should feel it, because even though hammers may be the same weight, they all feel different. I wouldn't recommend a hammer that has a waffle face, because if you are putting up a piece of trim or nailing together something a little finer, you certainly don't want that waffle head. That's really more for framing.

6 Handsaw

You'll need a small sixteen-or eighteen-inch handsaw. A twelve-point handsaw, meaning that there are twelve teeth per inch, is a fine to medium-fine saw good for overall cutting. A lot of the manufacturers have started producing small handsaws with tooth patterns in a Japanese style. They are very aggressive, and they cut very quickly and fairly smoothly. But they are not easily sharpened. With a traditional American saw, you can send it to a shop and get it sharpened pretty easily. For occasional use, if you are not going to be hitting any nails, a good American saw will last a long time.

7 Three nail sets

Whether you're putting together a little picture frame or trim around a door, you want to be able to set the nails without putting hammer marks--what we call rosebuds--on the wood. Nail sets let you drive a nail below the surface of the wood, and then you can either fill the hole with Spackle, if it's going to be painted, or with putty stick, if it's going to be a natural surface. Typically, you can buy them in a pack of three, sort of a small, medium, and large. It's something that you won't use a lot, but, boy, it comes in handy at times.

8 Pliers, vise grips, and wrenches

You want to have a couple sets of pliers: linesman pliers for doing electrical work and what I always called "water pump" pliers for doing plumbing work. A nice pair of vise grips is good, too, particularly when you've got a nut that's been stripped. On top of that, get a ten-inch adjustable wrench. These come in pretty handy. Say you've got an outdoor faucet where the packing nut has gotten a little loose and it's dripping around the stem of the handle. All it really needs is just a little crank, like an eighth or a quarter of a turn, and you're going to stop that drip.

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9 Flat bar and putty knife

One of the things homeowners run into in older homes is broken sash cords on their windows. Having a thin flat bar, as well as a good, stiff putty knife, is the easiest way to break loose the stops that hold the sash in place. You have to remove those stops to get the sash out before you can replace the cord. There are frequent occasions when you need to pry something off carefully, and a flat bar is ideal for that. And for small spackling jobs, I think the putty knife comes in handy, especially if you do a lot of painting around the house.

10 Two-foot level

Most homeowners will get a new washer and dryer or hang a picture at some point, and when you do, you'll need a two-foot level to level it up. Unless you start hanging doors, you don't need a four-foot or a six-foot level. I'm also a fan of the laser level, but it's not necessary for the average homeowner. I saw some at one of the trade shows not long ago--you could use them to plumb up doors or put a line around your room to do wallpaper. The technology is just getting amazing, but the price is still a little high. I can see someone in his little apartment saying, "I have to get my laser level so I can put up a chair rail." I don't think it would pay itself off too quickly.

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11 Utility knife

Get a good, heavy-duty utility knife, which is good for cutting shims, shaving down wood, and even sharpening your pencil. If you say, Do I really use it that much? the answer is, well, yeah. I use it to scrape the top of my glue bottle when it gets clogged up, for cutting drywall, or for when a door needs to be cut down because I've added carpet. Before you cut the bottom of the door with a circular saw, take a utility knife and score the door's wood veneer. Because a circular-saw blade turns up through the wood, it'll chip the top surface. If you score it with a utility knife first, you'll get a smooth cut. That's an old, old trick.

12 Safety glasses

Everyone needs a pair of safety glasses. No matter what I say, some people will go out and buy an inexpensive hammer or an inexpensive flat bar, and they are going to be banging on that thing someday and, because the quality of the steel is cheap, something is going to come flying off it. Absolutely, absolutely get some kind of eye protection.

13 Odds and ends

You want to carry a couple other accessories, too. You'll need a tape measure, obviously. I prefer a twenty-foot tape; the twenty-five-foot-long ones tend to be too bulky. Another good thing to have is a roll of electrical tape and wire nuts in case you take out a switch and you want to cap off the wires. For plumbing work, it's nice to have a little roll of Teflon tape. You might end up replacing the float valve in your toilet, and it seems that you always get a little bit of a drip around the connections. Teflon tape seals that right up. I also like to carry a little compass. Say I want to round the corners off of a board or if I just want to make a nice little arc or do simple circle layouts up to six or seven inches in diameter: It's very helpful. I also use it frequently for scribing when I'm installing cabinets or when molding comes up against a wall in a corner. And if you try to do your own tile work, or even if you're putting up a chair rail, a chalk line is real handy.

TOOL-BUYING PHILOSOPHY

I don't recommend any particular brands, but when it comes to wrenches and screwdrivers and hammers, I wouldn't buy them out of the bargain bin at a home center. If you buy one of those, like a Phillips screwdriver, and you really start torquing on a screw, the tip is going to break off. Those things are just poor quality, and you are going to be extremely frustrated. Get the good stuff--any good brand-name professional tool. When it comes to power tools, there's the low-end, the medium-range, and professional-quality tools. When it comes to things like the cordless drill, I would do a little price shopping and look for the bargains in the professional lines. If you can buy a professional-quality tool at a bargain price, you'll never have to replace it.